Moose will be young and fast

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/10/2023 (800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Much of the cream in the Winnipeg Jets’ crop of prospects has risen near the top and will be on full display as members of the Manitoba Moose this winter.

One thing is certain: it will be a youthful bunch that takes the ice when the Jets’ American Hockey League affiliate opens its campaign against the Calgary Wranglers at the downtown rink tonight (7 p.m.), but an equally talented one.

The Moose will ice eight homegrown prospects drafted in the first three rounds since 2019 (two first-rounders, four second-rounders, two third-rounders). Perhaps under the most watchful eye will be a pair of former first-round selections in Chaz Lucius and Brad Lambert, who both begin their first full seasons as professionals.

“It’s awesome. Been working all summer and waiting for the new season to start and now it’s finally around the corner so super excited,” said 2022 pick Lambert, who will return to his natural spot in the middle of the ice to begin the year. Lambert excelled as a centre with the Seattle Thunderbirds last season with 26 points in 20 playoff games en route to winning the Western Hockey League championship.

Added 2021 selection Lucius: “I know even from being here last year, it was an older team for sure and this year we have a lot of younger draft picks here so I think that’s really cool and awesome, the younger-older-guy mix. I think we’re really excited to get going (tonight).”

It’s another fresh start for Lucius, whose tumultuous journey has been well-documented since arriving to the Jets organization. The 20-year-old has spent about as much time on the shelf as he has on the ice over the last three seasons, owing to knee, ankle and shoulder injuries, which all required surgery.

Lucius wore a non-contact jersey during Jets’ development camp this summer while he worked back from a shoulder injury that limited him to 18 games last season, but was a full-go by the time training camp rolled around. As far as he’s concerned, it’s business as usual.

“The good news is I’ve had seven exhibition games before this game (tonight),” said Lucius, whose offensive production has ceased to fall off amid his injuries. “So I think (mentally), I feel good about it. I’ve got all the kinks out and I just feel really confident about it.”

Lambert played 14 games with the Moose last season and said he feels even more confident this time around, starting at centre and growing with a group of fellow highly-ranked prospects.

“I feel good. Obviously, lots of things to work on still: down-low battles and faceoffs and stuff like that. But I feel like I’ve been able to use my speed down the middle well and get pucks going with speed. The (defencemen) have been doing a good job of finding me in the middle, which is nice, and I just try to make plays down the middle,” the crafty Finn said.

“Everyone’s trying to get better day by day, I think we’re going to improve a ton during the season. It’s not something you talk about, but obviously, you have that support, you have guys that you’re going through it together with them and you have the same goal in mind. So it’s nice to have guys to go through it with.”

It’s possible the Moose, who finished 14th in the AHL with 227 goals a season ago, will see a boost in offence with the likes of Lucius, Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov (second-round pick in 2021) and Danny Zhilkin (third-round pick in 2021) now in the mix full time.

Head coach Mark Morrison expects there to be plenty of chances to go around this season with the high draft capital on the ice. Winning will remain paramount, however, and to do that he’ll need to navigate the loss of some key players, including leading goal scorer Jansen Harkins, who was scooped up off the waiver wire by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the preseason, and Alex Limoges, who led the team in points during his only year with the organization.

“We have a lot of positives (on this team),” said Morrison, who returns for his third season as bench boss. “We’re probably a faster team than we’ve been, we’ve got some speed, so I believe our rush attack will be a little bit better. In the past couple of years we’ve been a really good forechecking team but what that’s done is it’s stopped us from having a rush attack.

“I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be a work in progress but it’s also a developing game where these guys have to learn how to have a rush attack to play in the NHL, so that’s something we’re gonna work on.”

The greater concern could lie on the blue line, where the team will need to replace significant production left behind by Declan Chisholm and Ville Heinola, who graduated to the big club, and Leon Gawanke, who was traded to San Jose.

Morrison said players such as Artemi Kniazev, Kyle Capobianco and Dmitry Kuzmin (third-round pick in 2021) have given him reason for optimism, as the club attempts to skate past the Central Division semifinals, where they were eliminated by the Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in a best-of-five series last year.

“I think the whole coaching staff (is excited). It’s about wins and losses and it’s about development, and they go hand in hand. We want to make sure we’re highly competitive and that we’re winning hockey games and that’ll help develop these players,” he said.

“It’s exciting to have some young players with high skill and to work with them. That’s kind of why you want to work in the American Hockey League, to be honest. It’s to have an effect on these guys becoming NHL players.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam